Your iPhone comes equipped with a few safety features that work right out of the box—no extra downloads or purchases needed.
First, there’s location sharing, which lets you share your whereabouts directly with other iPhone users. Just open their contact card, tap Send My Current Location or Share My Location—and a time frame: indefinitely, until the end of the day, or for one hour.
The Emergency SOS feature is just as straightforward. When needed, just hold down the power button and one of the volume buttons, then slide the SOS slider to call 911. Or, keep holding both buttons, and it will automatically dial after a five-second countdown. You can also text 911.
With iOS 17, Apple introduced a Check In tool. It essentially lets you, well, check in, with someone you trust, right within your message thread. If you don’t update your selected contact once you arrive at your destination, it will prompt you for a response and share important data (location, battery life, network signal) with your emergency contact. Here’s how to use it.
The obvious downside is that your phone needs to be charged for these features to work. If you’re in a situation where your battery is running low, I recommend sending your current location to a loved one while you still have power. If GPS tracking isn’t for you, you could always snap a quick screenshot of your location or route on a map and share it with a friend. That way, if something unexpected happens, emergency responders will have a starting point to trace your steps.
